I currently have my interest in airdrop and bounties but the truth remains that the payment rate for bounties and airdrop is reducing, blockchain holds great promise and I feel it's necessary that one start taking courses on programming, because i see Blockchain technology becoming a major additives for applications, its never too late to stay relevant.
You got it right - crypto is most certainly will be the source of work and money for many developers.
If you're going to develop own product/coin (which is going to be useful of course) this could be way more profitable than participating in airdops and bounties